A mother in Crowley, Texas, no longer has custody of her three children after she faked a serious illness in her 11-month-old son.
Kaleigh Flanagan, 27, was arrested on a charge of bodily injury to a child on Friday after her baby spent nearly 100 days in the hospital for conditions he doesn't have.
Flanagan told doctors at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth in December that her son had seizures and needed a tube placed down his nose so he can take his medications, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
The mother returned multiple times to Cook Children's emergency room in January and February, and told doctors her baby pulled out the tube or had issues with vomiting.
Doctors became suspicious because the baby's brain scans looked normal, no one in the hospital ever saw him have a seizure, and a nurse was able to feed the boy without any issues.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, videos from the hospital show Flanagan splashing water on her shirt before telling doctors that her son threw up.
Tarrant County detectives also uncovered medical issues about Flanagan's 7-year-old twin daughters. The mother claimed that one of the daughters was treated for skin cancer in California but couldn't remember the doctor's names.
The girls also once showed up to school with bald heads after the mom said they had lice and were wearing neck braces another day because the mom said they were involved in a car accident, according to the Cleburne Times Review.
All three children are now in foster homes, and the son is no longer taking medication and has not had a seizure.
Authorities believe Flanagan may have Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, a mental health disorder where a caretaker fakes a person's illness, typically for attention and sympathy.
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